RUMOR: MacBook Pro SLi

So, this may be a dumb question, and have nothing other than "what I heard" via word of mouth, but someone told me that in the next string of MacBook Pro's when they make the switch to Core 2 Duo's, that they are also going to be capable of SLi configs as well. Trying to do a search for anything about this type of setup, I've found nothing to even hint to this, other than the MacBook Pro's eventually going to the C2D's. Has anyone else heard of this rumor as well, or is it someone's fantasy MacBook Pro...

 

So we can cook a steak in 2 minutes flat now?

But really, it sounds interesting....


Source?

 

Not a chance, to keep the MBP form and to put in SLI, it's just fantasy. BUT there might be possibilty of having 2 GPU, 1 of the lower end onboard GPU and the other the more powerful ones, works like the SONY SZ so to extend the life of the notebook when powerful graphic processing is not needed.

 

yuck... sli in a notebook. Sorry, but a stupid idea.

Even dumber to do it on a MBP, which isn't made as a gaming platform. And how the hell would it deal with that much heat? i mean... seriously? and no battery life? yeah... doomed to fail if apple even tried it.

 

hahaha! or maybe we can use MBP as a space heater then?!?

 

There is about ZERO chance of that happening. #1 no real need, #2 won't even come close to fitting in the current case. Sorry to burst your bubble.

 

No chance. However, like the poster above mentioned, they maybe be going to put in something like a go7600, and an GMA 950, so you can save battery life.

 

No worries... I was dead set on getting a laptop around December, and I heard this rumor, just wanted to make sure it was false before going with the one I want to get. Thanks everyone.

 

Hey, sorry if my earlier post sounded a bit like a flame against you. I just meant the idea is a terrible one for a mac.

Anyway, good luck on your laptop hunt. We may see Meroms out in the MBP by then if you're wanting to go with a mac.

 

I started laughing at the idea of SLi in MBP.

Made me think of an MBP thats as thick as a high end Dell XPS system (those things are THICK!; also thats not a flame towards Dell, just an example)

 

Perhaps you heard it was for the Macpro, the tower and not the notebook.

 

Yeah I could see the misunderstanding there since Macbook Pro and Mac Pro are somewhat similar, and such a thing is probably more likely, especially since it appears that Apple is moving towards nVidia now that ATi has a lot to do with AMD now.

 

Yeah, but did you hear that AMD has been talking to Appple?

So maybe we'll see a crossfire MacPro as well. But yeah, MacPro needs to get SLI. I'm not sure how well it works with Quatro cards, but if it's supposed to be a professional work station, ti would only make sense for htem to get it.

 

you mean ATi might have CrossFire put in MacPro?

Or are you saying AMD processors in Apple.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of AMD (it's whats in my gaming machine), but I have to agree with Steve Jobs on this one for some reason, I don't really see AMD in Apple Products.

Adding another brand of processor (even know they are the same type) would mean they need to add more support to OS X (yes, even if you have the same architecture processors you need to adapt them for their specific technologies). I think Apple likes to stay conformed to one ideal.

Anyways to be honest, I'm glad that Apple isn't like all the other PC manufacturers out there rushing to get the latest core/model processor out there. I'm sure they feel like they should stick to the old model that they used for years.

 

AMD are ATI these days

 

They have not actually talked. One of the high-up AMD guys was spouting off about Apple and how they will/should use AMD, not Intel. I kinda doubt AMD in Apples anytime soon.

 

I just read an interview on cnet or mnsnbc or some crap with one of the guys from AMD (forgot his name) that said they have actually just started talking, but no real plans yet.

But I don't see AMD in them either... at least not for a long while. I know apple likes to keep very few product choices for their customers, so it makes me doubt Apple moving to AMd.

Besides, I would think that Apple has an exlusive with Intel for at least a few years.

 

Yeah, that's probably one of the only thing I don't like about my M90... it's thick. I'm willing to up with it for performance, but sometimes it sucks. A lot of the thickness issue could be resolved if they moved the media buttons on the front to the top above the keyboard or something. But still yet, I like the media buttons.

AMD in Apple is not a good idea, nor is it anything Apple would typically do. First of all, AMD laptop chips are severly less powerful than the Core 2 Duos, and now the same is pretty much true for desktops. Dell recently added AMD chips to some of their desktops, and they became pretty much budget machines. AMD is the one that's going to have to catch up now. Besides, like others have said, Apple doesn't like having to restructure all the time for the latest technology. Unlike Microsoft, they typically like to get everything right with OS X before they ship out updates.

As far as SLi in the Mac Pro, it already exits. You can get up to 4 7300GTs... but that's pretty worthless if you ask me. They need to add Crossfire support so you could add an x1900XTX... that would be the best config. Right now, the best config with the Mac Pro seems to be the Quadro 4500. Not that 4 7300GTs is bad, but the memory bus and the core are just weak... having 4 of them doesn't make that better.

 

They are still separate companies, AMD is just the parent of ATi

 

whats SLi?

 

SLi is nVidia's technology for using two video cards together for better performance, kinda like dual core CPUs. Crossfire is ATI's version of the same technology.

 

which is better the crossfire or SLi?

 

they are both good, however ATi has always been known to have better antialising and AF.

 

Whats Antialising and AF?
If they are good why aren't they in most laptops let alone the apple laptops??

 

SLi is considered much better than Crossfire.

 

Also, the Mac Pro does not have SLI. SLI enables two or more vid cards to jointly render the same display, leading to massive frame rates. What a Mac Pro can do is support multiple displays each using their own vid card.

 

Right you are!

I just checked on macs site, it only has 1 pci-express slot for vid cards and does not have any options for an SLI purchase. Seems pretty silly to me considering it's supposed to be "THE" professional graphics workstation. That needs to be upgraded.

 

Ah, good catch there. That's a bit tricky... and a little misleading.

 

Antialiasing is a feature in a game or applications where the graphics card renders at a higher resolution than the application is being displayed in. This cuts down on the "jaggies" of the picture and smooths out the lines of objects on the screen. This is a software feature that applications and games either do or do not support. AFAIK, all graphics cards can do Antialiasing to some extent, but some may not be powerful enough to be good at it. Antialiasing typically takes a large amount of GPU power.

AF stands for Antitriscopic Filtering. I'm a little more fuzzy on this, but I do know that it is a filtering technology for increasing the quality of textures, especially at long distances. It makes things look more realistic and less blurry. This is not supported by all hardware, but it is supported by most all current cards as far as I know, including the x1600 in the MBP and the GMA950 in the MacBook.

Do a google or wikipedia search for more info. Both of these terms are typically used in discussions about gaming, which neither the MacBook nor the MacBook Pro are designed for.